Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa

First, let me start by saying the grounds and the people at the resort were amazing. This was our first visit to a Sandals Resort but will probably be our last. We stayed for a week for a wedding and we did not do any research before leaving as we heard Sandles were considered premium quality. For the price and the allure of Sandals, we were surprised we were not able to get room service in our room (416). We later found out that our room category Caribbean Deluxe was a basic room with no room service. There are 21 room categories at the resort. Check-in Check-in went very smoothly. We were picked up from the airport with some of the other wedding guests. Upon arriving we were given a welcome rum punch drink. Our room was ready so we did not have to wait long for the bell boy to take our bags to the room. Near the lobby, you may see Samson and Delilah walking around getting exercise. Room The room was centrally located in the middle of the resort. While room service may not be a deal breaker for some for the amount we paid this was a deal breaker for us. Make sure to pay attention to the room categories before booking. The room was basic but was cleaned daily and the mini bar was restocked daily as well. The room also came with two bottles of wine a red and white. The bathroom was a bit dated but everything worked. The location of the room was great. We felt like we had a private pool located right out front of our lawn area and across the path. At night there are huge fire pits that are lit and are perfect for groups or couples to sit around and relax. Grounds The grounds are very well kept and throughout our trip, we saw workers attending to the grounds. There a multiple pools on the resort which allows the patrons to spread out. The grounds have cats that roam the property. At first, we thought they were strays but then on the map, there is a feeding station (Cat Cafe) for them so they are fed daily. There are also some of the biggest frogs we have seen on the property. It was funny to see the big frogs at the feeding bowls some days. Beach and Pools The main pool is one of the biggest pools we have seen. Towels were readily available and even if you did not get there super early you still could get a good spot. I am not sure there were any bad spots...lol. The beach is amazing and the sand is so beautiful. In the morning for breakfast, we would try to get a table closer to the boardwalk so we could just watch the beach and plan our day. On the days we did not have wedding activities we hung out in the pool near our room. We had the pleasure of meeting Amelia at the pool. She made some of the best drinks. Make sure to ask for a double order of the wings and get the popcorn when it's freshly popped. Water sports are included and I was able to take advantage of the snorkel excursion during our stay. I am glad I did. For those that get the rooms with butlers, we saw them out early reserving places on t

My wife and I came to Sandals Grande Antigua for 10 days (Feb 18 to Feb 28) for our honeymoon and we had an amazing overall experience. The rooms were well kept and clean and the beach was beautiful. We had a small issue with our bathtub not draining property and a simple phone call to the front desk had that fixed up within the day. The food was very good. We REALLY enjoyed Soy.. it has to be the best sushi we’ve ever had. Elenanor’s, Bayside and Barefoot were all excellent dinners as well. The only disappointing one was Kimonos as the beef was a bit overcooked and bland and the mahi-mahi was quite fishy tasting. Great options were provided for breakfast and lunch as well. Scuba Diving: We can’t say enough positive things about everyone who worked at the dive shop. They were all such incredible people who genuinely wanted to help and make sure we had the best experience possible. FERN was amazing and so helpful as she guided me through my open water certification. Her patience and positivity made it so fun and easy to get through. URANTUS was so incredibly helpful on our dives together and made sure we always felt comfortable and had fun. TRAVIS and MIGUEL were also awesome and always offered a helping hand if we needed. The captan of the boat (who’s name I’m forgetting was also so nice she made sure we were always safe. This dive team is the best!! They made sure we got to see tons of cool stuff as well. We saw black tip sharks, turtles, barracuda, octopus, sting rays, moray eels, puffer fish, lobsters and tons more. We had 7 total dives during our trip and this crew went above and beyond every single time to make sure we felt safe and supported in every sense. The bartenders and servers were pretty consistently pleasant. Shoutout to ZIGGY at the swim up bar in the main pool. He was our favourite! Ziggy always took the time to chat with us and make us feel special. Lastly, DELMARE the photographer really went above and beyond to make our time here feel special. Not only did he take some amazing pictures for us, but always took the time to have a conversation with us and ask how we’re doing. This resort really has some amazing people which made our experience even better. It’s definitely a bit of an older crowd (we’re both 29 and only met one or two other couples around our age). But it helped us have a nice quiet week. The first half of our trip wasn’t at full capacity and it was quite nice. The last few days got a bit busier and it took noticeably longer to get drinks or food. We also found the vendors on the beach were hit or miss.. some days they were a little much, but a simple “no thank you” was all it took to keep them moving. Other days they were barely around. Overall it was an amazing experience and we would recommend to anyone considering Sandals Grande Antigua!

Sandals sets the expectation this resort is a five star resort but it's anything but five star. The resort is overpriced and doesn't offer what it claims and should offer if it is to qualify as a true 5 or 6 star resort. Sandals Grande Antigua is really a 3 star resort. We have traveled all over the world and compared to resorts in Nusa Dua (Bali), Phuket Thailand, Mexico's Mayan Riviera, the Dominican Republic, Sardinia, Moorea, Bora Bora, and the Greek Isles, Sandals Grande Antigua is ranked the lowest. There is no feeling of luxury. Negatives: A shortage of hand towels and face cloths. Room was not made up most of the day after we left the room for hours/called housekeeping multiple times re. making up room. Sometimes no one answered the phone. The resort feels and looks like a 3 star resort with older dated facilities/furnishings. We've stayed at resorts way better than this one. Old beaten up dresser in the room. Bathroom sink ridiculously narrow in depth with a monstrous leaky faucet taking over half of that depth. Wash your face/brush your teeth OVER the faucet? The “Caribbean” side of the resort is old probably dating back to the 1960s or 1970s. Who designs a room with the closet in the bathroom???? Closet had limited space for the clothing of two adults. Cats everywhere and coming into the restaurant crying for food and clearly hungry. Often too many cats. We LOVE cats but why so many? What if guests are allergic? There is one Cat Cafe where the resort feeds the cats but we don't know if there are other "cafes" on the property. Eleanors Restaurant reservation means what? A dinner of snapper filet listed on the menu not as a soup but arrived at the table as such with the filet's skin still on and swimming in a broth with overcooked peppers/onions/potatoes. Terrible dish! Fed hungry kitty with some of the leftover filet meat. At breakfast at Eleanors, we waited a ridiculously long time to place an order and to be served. What is wrong with the kitchen chefs there??? Bad dinner and slow breakfast service. Entertainment was limited and poor. One performer, a violinist played all flat notes. On the plus side, there was one band that was excellent, creating a lot of energy from the performers and with the crowd. Their event was well attended and loaded with energy from the audience. Photos taken by roving photographers of us were so badly done and the hotel charged $20 per photo! What a rip off. The music played by a DJ at the pool was awful. Where is the variety? It was as though the DJ wanted to play only what he liked. Some staff seemed bored and disinterested in their jobs. Not very engaging with guests. Marios Restaurant seated us twice near the front desk like they were trying to squeeze in more tables but barely had the space. Meanwhile we look around and see where four more tables can be included in the floor plan. The pizza made outside of Marios was horrible. The line for Marios was too long and tables were not

We had our wedding at Sandals Antigua in Nov of 2023. What an amazing experience it was from beginning to end. Our wedding planner Marcia was so incredibly amazing we can't thank her enough. There were so many people that made our stay so memorable I couldn't possibly fit them all in but I want to give a shout out to Rashawn the bartender who is one of the kindest and hardworking people I have encountered, I'm sure he will remember our epic nite of '4 more'. The other person I wanted to thank is Osmi who is as kind and hard working as Rashawn and always made sure we were accommodated when we were out to eat. Everything else from the cake to the music to the environment couldn't have been more amazing. Thank you one and all for making our wedding and our experience truly incredible.

Sip and paint with ViVi entertainment with kc and roro was awesome. I loved the moments I had with my husband. We had to fix someone else’s painting which was part of the fun. Enjoying our time here!!! Looking forward to our next time with Sandals!

So honestly I have wanted to love it but I hate it. I went to beaches in Turks and Caicos last year and loved it. Everything about Antiqua was inferior and I swear to you I didn’t want it to be. We were still here and it is not fun. Even the Excellence boat excursion we just went on was a disaster. I am from the south so I have expectations of people being kind but this folks that ran the charter were rude and hurt my feelings. Just listen and don’t come here. You will wish you had not.

Just got home from the beautiful Antigua and stayed at the Sandals. This was our favourite by far. An amazing experience, incredible beach with soft white sand and aqua water. Food and service at Sandals was amazing. Special shout out to McNeilya at Club Sandals who took great care of us, Jamar was the best bartender, Tamesha at the Ok Caral gave us fantastic service, Sammy at Mario’s was the most organized hostess I’ve ever seen, and Jason our Japanese chef was a pro. Thank you to the executive team for taking great care of your employees. It shows because they all took great care of us. We will definitely be back!

Overall the vacation was fair, for the cost, it did mot meet our expectations. Check in took an extremely long time. We had a room with a Bulter, but communication was limited. The phone did not work well to contact the butler, on a number of days calls were made up to 21 times in one day, and an average of 6-10 times other days. We repeatedly received a message that the number we were calling was not available to try the number again. We did report that, but the phone was not replaced? the problem was not resolved, and we did a lot of waiting around. The food quality was not as we had expected either. The beef choices in OK carrel, Bayside, and Eleanors was grisly and chewing, very tough. The beef at the hibachi restaurant was very good. The fish at Barefoot, particularly the Mahi Mahi was cut very thin and dried out. Breakfasts were exceptional, and Soy was by far the best food at the resort. Communication for excursions was limited. At check in instructions/directions were not provided and we found ourselves wondering where and when to go and meet with group. And finally upon getting home and looking at our photos, to find that there were errors and not the prints we had chosen was disappointing. There were a number of people that need to be acknowledged Carrie Ann waitress at the Bayside was exceptional, attentive and anticipated our every need. As well, Nia from the entertainment team was a pleasure to meet and made the afternoon a successful great time.

Joy at the small pool is fabulous!! Her attention to ensure everyone is cared for timely is amazing to watch. Sandals is lucky to have her. Marie Louise is also wonderful!! Vivi and Junior… was fun to watch them pay volleyball with guest everyday.